The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw, based in Norway, reported that the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran detained Hanieh Shariati Roudposhti, a taekwondo athlete and gymnastics coach residing in Tehran, and took her to an undisclosed location.
The athlete was detained on the night of November 9, after a public sports demonstration where she did not wear the mandatory ‘hijab’, the organization noted on its website.
The initiative to be voted in the Portuguese parliament described that “the repression was not limited to the deprivation of liberty”.
“The athlete’s social media accounts, including an Instagram profile with about 160,000 followers, were taken over by state agents and subsequently deactivated, displaying messages linked to the Iranian cyber police,” reported liberal deputies.
The athlete was later temporarily released but “under severe restrictions and with evident signs of coercion, such as her subsequent appearance in a video wearing ‘hijab’ and reiterating messages aligned with the authorities’ demands.”
“This pattern of controlled releases is well-documented and constitutes a form of intimidation aimed at suppressing individual and collective protests,” criticized the liberals.
The liberal bloc recalled other “serious human rights violations” in Iran within the initiative.
“The death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, after being detained by the so-called ‘morality police’, sparked massive protests and widespread international condemnation, which Portugal joined,” referenced the liberal deputies.
“Since then, there have been accumulating episodes of repression against women who protest peacefully and exercise basic freedoms,” stated the liberals, who also highlighted the arrests of Ahoo Daryaei, a student undressing after confrontation by university security for not wearing the ‘hijab’, and Parastoo Ahmadi, a rock band singer prosecuted for performing without the veil.
The vote, emphasized the liberals, firmly condemns “the detention of Iranian athlete Hanieh Shariati Roudposhti and all forms of repression against women exercising fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, clothing, and sports practice.”
The initiative further urges the Iranian authorities “to end arbitrary detentions linked to not wearing the ‘hijab’ and release all individuals detained for similar reasons, including those subjected to judicial processes for artistic, sports, or academic activities.”
The vote also expresses “solidarity with all Iranian women facing coercion, institutional violence, and constant surveillance for asserting basic rights to personal autonomy and physical integrity.”
Finally, it calls on the international community, including the United Nations, to “strengthen the accountability of the Iranian regime and ensure that systematic human rights violations do not go without diplomatic consequences.”
